Comparing the Transfer Effects of Simultaneous and Sequential Combined Modality Training in Older Adults

Intervention research has shown that both cognitive training (Hertzog et al.,2009; Lustig et al., 2009) and aerobic exercise training (Colcombe et al., 2003; Bherer, Erickson, & Liu-Ambrose, 2013) are each capable of independently inducing significant improvement on cognitive performances in older adults. Additionally, intervention studies utilizing combined multimodality (cognitive and aerobic) training, while few in number, have shown promise in producing significantly more training gains in older adults than either single modality of training (Eggenberger et al., 2015; Lustig et al., 2009; Oswald et al., 2006; Rahe et al., 2015; Theill et al., 2013). To date, there is no study specifically comparing and contrasting the efficacy of Simultaneous and Sequential multimodal training protocols. To this end, forty-two older adult participants (M = 68.05, SD = 4.65) were recruited to participate in 12 sessions of multimodal training, and were randomly assigned to either the Simultaneous or Sequential training group. Both groups showed significant improvement on measures of processing speed and verbal memory following training. Additionally, the Sequential group showed a significant training group advantage on a measure of working memory. The moderating factors, motivation to engage in cognitive effort (NFC) and baseline aerobic fitness, were included in the analyses to explore their potential influence on the magnitude of training gains. NFC was found to be a significant moderator as those with lower NFC improved more on measures of processing speed and verbal memory. Those with higher aerobic fitness improved marginally more on an interference monitoring task. The findings from the current study have implications for the aging intervention literature as they provide partial evidence for enhanced efficacy for Sequential multimodal training. Additionally, possible training gain-related moderators were identified, which might have implications for participant selection in future intervention studies.